Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis – Legendary Style

This is my last entry in the “Innovators of Timeless Style” series and I’m so happy I’ve been able to share with you just how special these ladies are to me. Today’s article is dedicated to a woman who defines the true meaning of timeless style. Her grace and elegance has transcended time, forever marking her name as a fashion legend. I’m speaking of none other than Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis.

I can’t imagine it being easy to be a woman in the 1960s, let alone to be the woman standing beside the man responsible for running the United States. If it was difficult, Jacqueline Kennedy Onassis did an excellent job of making it look effortless. This soft spoken, demure beauty made her presence known in the White House, becoming a staple of classic American style. Although she adored being a wife and mother, Jackie O embraced fashion in a way like no other First Lady before her.

During her first few years in the White House, Jackie O commissioned family friend and respected designer Oleg Cassini to create her wardrobe. The tailored suits with skirts at mid-knee length, sleeveless A-line dresses and matching pillbox hats he created for her would become known as the “Jackie” look. The pink Chanel suit she wore on November 22, 1963 when John F. Kennedy was assassinated, and insisted on wearing (though blood stained) when Lyndon Johnson was sworn in as President of the United States, became an emblem of that tragic day. Even at her husband’s funeral she was the picture of grace, as she stood with her children dressed in a black skirt suit with a matching, veiled pillbox hat.

Jackie O’s style consisted of very simplistic, clean and classic pieces which included: Tailored skirt suits, black turtlenecks (never tucked in), white pants, A-line dresses, full length gowns with a modest fit, elbow length white gloves, trench coats, pillbox hats and oversized glasses. Jackie is well known for wearing a 3-strand pearl necklace. This particular design of pearls, where the lengths of the pearls were not uniformly set, was designed by Coco Chanel who was a favorite of Jackie’s. You’d be surprised to know that Jackie’s 3-strand pearl necklace was not real. Her necklace, designed by Kenneth Jay Lane, was purchased at Bergdorf Goodman for a mere $35, but was purchased at a Sotheby’s auction by The Franklin Mint for $211,500. Some of her designer favorites were Giorgio Armani, Carolina Herrera, Chanel, Emilio Pucci and Valentino.

Here’s a flashback, but first let me say that selecting pictures for this article today was so difficult. I literally wanted to post them all! This is a woman who just never got it wrong. Take a look:

This is how it’s done folks…Style at its best. These innovators of timeless style paved the way for us to never get it wrong by setting style examples for us to follow. I hope you’ve enjoyed these articles as much as I have. Until next time!